Odds And Ends: Crede, Marlins, Canó, Bonds

In re: Crede, waiting for Sabean's no-doubt-idiotic trade is like watching a traffic accident happening. Nothing against Crede, who (healthy) brings above-average defense than balances out a below-average bat. On a contender, I'd pay him a few mil a year. Sabean, the idiot, is going to trade something useful for his overpriced contract, then extend him despite the injury risk. Crikey, Sabean is dumb about free agent signings and trades.

In re: the Marlins, why would they? They're *the most profitable team in MLB*. Top of the list. The magic of rev-sharing. I'd do it, if I could.

As for Bonds, the idea that no team in the AL has a worse DH is risible. Kinda puts paid to the 'superior league' taunts.

Why would anyone assume Loria would do anything for the good of his team or the sport. He is Selig's hatchet man, executing teams for relocation or publicly financed stadium deals.

Just a head up to the writer of the post....Cano was not drafted he was signed out of the dominican

Those are actually his walk totals. I would have used the strikeout numbers. Then, Crede has hit 75,81,66 and 58 homeruns in his last four healthy seasons. That's much more impressive. :)

Just messin', everyone makes mistakes.

"Those are actually his walk totals. I would have used the strikeout numbers. Then, Crede has hit 75,81,66 and 58 homeruns in his last four healthy seasons. That's much more impressive. :)"

BTW, that was hilarious!

@MattS6000

Fixed that. I confused his reputation as a prospect (specifically, his ranking outside BA's top 100) with draft position (which he did not have; a fact of which I wasn't aware).

Thanks for pointing out my mistake. My goal is to always be 100% accurate (except for my editorializing and speculation, which is wild and crazy ;) ).

Joe Crede's doesn't walk a lot, big deal, he hits for a decent average and good power, plays great defense and has a cheap contract, send over a couple decent prospects and throw Crede in the 5 hole and the Giants will be ok.
I just want Josh Fields to get 150 games worth of AB's, that kid's got scary power.

I think the media has been stirring the pot on the Crede rumor. Sabean has been rather restrained this season in pursuing free agents. If he was really interested in Crede, then why wouldn't they pursue Morgan Ensberg more, poorer defense, but way better bat, no health issues, and won't cost them a prospect.

And they apparently checked in with Dallas McPherson and mutually agreed to part, which suggests to me that they are really looking more for a backup player in case Frandsen don't do well in spring training and are keeping 3B open in case both Durham and Frandsen do well, and start them respectively at 2B and 3B. That's the only reason I could figure out why McPherson backed off SF so quickly and ended up with Florida for a cheap contract (I thought at first money was why the Giants backed off, else seems like ideal situation for McPherson).

Crede then only happens if Durham totally is incapable of playing AND Velez don't make a good enough impression (but he's playing well right now so that might not pan out either), because if Durham is out of the picture as a starter, they could go with Velez at 2B and Frandsen at 3B.

Of course, right now all that's out the window with Vizquel out and Frandsen starting at SS. But Vizquel is expected back in the back half of April, so the above scenarios still hold, along with the caveat that Crede has to show that his back is OK as well. Plus there's always Aurilia and he could do well in spring as well.

Personally, I don't think the Giants will trade for Crede. They might be eyeing him if he can come cheap enough as backup or if too many guys flop this spring.

However, I think Durham will do enough to convince the Giants that he's OK enough to start at 2B and that Frandsen will hit well enough that the Giants will give him 3B at some point once Vizquel returns. Even if Durham has continued problems with his shoulder, shutting him down for spring, Velez has been doing well thus far and if he continues to do well, would get the start at 2B.

Someone I see as more of a possibility for trade for the Giants is Ben Zobrist of the Rays. He's going to be the utility guy for the Rays, but for the Giants could be insurance in case Vizquel doesn't hit enough to justify starting him or if the injury gets worse for whatever reason. If Vizquel is OK, Zobrist would then be the utility MI for the Giants, plus be in line to start at 3B if Frandsen either can't hit or can't field 3B properly enough. Aurilia, I think, is backup in case Ortmeier don't do well enough at 1B, plus they are preparing Bowker to be an option there by mid-season, and as noted above, Aurilia could also end up at 3B depending on how things work out with Ortmeier at 1B and Aurilia is hitting.

Someone mentioned that the Giants would be lucky to win 60-65 games. Given that the team is expected to have an ERA near 4.00, the team would have to score under 3.5 runs per game to do that, using Pythagorean. Plugging in the projections for the expected lineup for the Giants given current personnel, the Lineup Calculator on Baseball Musing says the lineup will score around 4.0-4.2 runs per game.

So unless the hitters severely miss their projections or the pitchers regress or get injured a lot, the Giants will be closer to 80 wins than they will be to 60 wins.

Here's why Sox fans "overrate" Crede: we've watched this guy go from prospect to underachieving starter. In the last couple of healthy years it looked as though he was putting it all together. He's a guy that's still improving. I would not be surprised at all if next year is his best year so far.

He's got the reputation of an "injury risk," which is true since he's coming off of major surgery. Outside of that, however, he's had a history of playing over 130 games a season. If the surgery was good, he's reliable.

There simply is no overrating of his defensive abilities. Unless a player is ending up on ESPN's top plays every other night, it's hard to gain the reputation of a great fielder. I haven't seen a third baseman this solid on the South Side since Robin Ventura and he was a gold glover.

CANO - MVP
BONDS - SEATTLE
NYY 27/08

why can't the yankees make the playoffs..?

don't the red sox have the same team as last year..?

the red sox only beat the yankees out by 4 games.

both team have almost the same team as last year.

your very ignorant and stupid to say there is no chance.

your an a rod hater, the guy makes the most money in mlb, not only does he makes the most money but he is only 32 with over 500 homers, and one of the best hitters in mlb, plus he is not a bad third baseman.

i really hate when people try to put down a team or a player just because you dislike them, it just shows the kind of person you are.

i'm a yankees fan, if the yankees dont make the playoffs i become a red sox fan, why ..? because they have a great team, nd the management spends the big money to bring star players, just like the yankees, if the red sox dont make it, then im a cubs fan.

you guys need to keep your ignorance to yourself and your family, dont infect the internet

I'm a Sox fan looking in to the Giants' fans point of view. I son't know what the majority of you have seen Crede do, but when the SOX won the World Series he was a mainstay. He's incredible on defense and consistant at the plate. Aaron Rowand will tell anyone who will listen this guy is the real deal. He's been slowed by injuries - but when healthy he's an All Star.
So that said - as long as we're speculating why not dive in with both feet.
The Sox should send you Crede; Konerko, McDougal and Uribe.
The Giants would get clutch hitters with power -a characterisic they lack -on BOTH corners and a sericeable insurance policy in case Vizquel or Durham can't go, and a reliever who has closed in the majors.
For that group the Sox would want Sanchez, Winn, Valdez and Matos.
The Giants can allow Veldez to continue to develop, move Ortmeier to RF and keep the rotation intact.
Crede, Konerko and Uribe will hit AT LEAST 20 HRs.
Why not dive in with both feet?